Better in time
by suri29
Summary: still mourning the loss of her parents,Hermione decides to go to Australia and cut herself off from the wizarding world. Draco is in Australia on vacation but he can't stop thinking about a certain Gryffindor he ran into a while back. abandoned  for now
1. Australia

**So here's the beginning of my second fic, it's Dramione of course but there will be other pairings in this story. Its definitely not like The Voice, but I hope you all like just the same. Just to clear things up right away, it will be present time as in 2012 present, mainly because I will be using certain things like songs and some references that definitely weren't around in 1998/1999. Well with that said, here's chapter one.**

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><p>Hermione sat in a quaint little café, sipping a raspberry cappuccino, staring blankly at the empty seat in front of her.<p>

It was the first time she'd really 'gone out' in about six months, after her parent's death.

_***Six months ago***_

Almost a year after the war ended, Hermione had traveled all the way to Australia to find her parents and reverse the memory charm she'd placed on them. They all returned to England as a family but kept the house her parents had already bought there to use as a vacation home. Three months after they returned to England, her parents insisted that she take a vacation and make good use of their Australian home, after a week of badgering, Hermione finally relented and booked a first class seat on the next flight out.

A week into her vacation, she was relaxing on a lounge chair out on her bedroom's terrace when an owl with an envelope flew down and landed beside her. She thought it was odd that an owl was there, if her parents wanted to contact her they just called her, so did Harry and Ron; something big must have happened.

She cautiously took the envelope from the owl and before she could get up to give it a treat, it had already flown away. She opened the envelope and read the letter slowly; it was a good thing she was already sitting down, if she hadn't, she would have collapsed on the ground crying.

It was a letter from Harry; her parents had been killed by a couple of rouge death eaters that had remained hidden and under the ministry's radar, until they attacked her parents.

Hermione broke down crying, she couldn't believe her parents were gone, she'd only gotten them back a few months ago and now she'd lost them again, this time for good. After crying for what felt like hours, Hermione booked the next flight back to England which to her dismay was not until the next afternoon.

She cried herself to sleep that night, not being able to think about anything other than the fact that she was now alone in the world.

The next morning, she woke up and immediately started packing, she began to cry again as she picked up a picture she'd framed and put on her bedside table; it was of her and her parents on the terrace of that very house, she'd taken it after she lifted the charm, on their last night in the house before they returned to England. She packed it along with the rest of her belongings, ate breakfast and around noon, she left for the airport.

As she stared out the window of her first class seat, her mind wandered to her parents again; the last time she'd been on a flight from Australia to England was when they were all returning as a happy family. She quickly wiped her eyes, as she didn't want others to see her crying and ask her if she was alright.

The day after she arrived in England was the day of her parents' funeral; Harry, Ron and the rest of the Weasley family all showed up to give their condolences and invited Hermione to stay at the Burrow with them so she would not be alone; she declined.

After the funeral she walked back to the home her parents had left her and cried herself to sleep once more. The following afternoon, after ignoring all owls sent to her by her friends offering their condolences and asking her to stay with them so she would not be alone, she left her house for the first time, went to purchase pink peonies, her mother's favorite, and went to visit her parents grave for the first time.

_***Present Day***_

"Granger?"

The use of her surname barely registered in her mind as she heard it, she looked up and saw Draco Malfoy standing in front of her.

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><p>Draco walked into his favorite café, and ordered his favorite drink, a raspberry cappuccino. He was about to walk toward the exit when he spotted a familiar head of brown curls sitting alone at a table.<p>

He hadn't seen Hermione granger in over a year; the last time he saw her was at the ministry's anniversary ball to commemorate Harry Potter's victory over Voldemort.

She'd looked stunning in a light pink dress with gold embroidery on the top. Surprisingly she was not on Weasley's arm, nor on Potter's but on Viktor Krum's. He'd always suspected that Weasley had a thing for her but there he was, proving him wrong by gliding, yes gliding, on the dance floor with one of his best friends, Pansy Parkinson.

He'd wanted to go over and at least say hello to Granger but every time he spotted her, she was busy talking to some ministry official or on the floor with Krum. By the time he finally decided he would go up to her, no matter what she was doing, she had already left.

And now here she was sitting in a café, alone. But there was something different about her now. Her eyes, which were normally filled with fire and emotion, were now empty and sullen. Why? She looked so tired and sad; he decided to investigate a bit.

"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Go ahead" said Hermione, her voice barely above a whisper.

Draco sat down in the chair across from her and continued to analyze her; she was none the wiser as she seemed enthralled by the contents of her coffee mug. It bothered Draco to see her that way, he'd only ever admitted this to his best friend Blaise but he'd always been fascinated by Hermione granger. In their school days it was mostly because no matter how hard he tried, she always beat him at pretty much everything. It wasn't until the Yule ball, fourth year that he began to see her as more than the insufferable know it all that always bested him.

"You look nice" said Draco, after a few minutes of an awkward silence.

Hermione snorted, "You don't have to lie to me Malfoy; I know I look horrible. I figured my outside appearance should match how I feel on the inside."

That threw Draco off a bit, he hadn't even expected her to respond to him and if she did, he certainly didn't expect THAT as a response. His curiosity peaked but aside from being curious, he was actually starting to grow concerned, which was totally unlike him. They weren't friends, hell they were barely considered acquaintances, why was he concerned?

She looked up at him and met his eyes; Draco felt a chill go down his spine. Looking into Hermione's eyes would do that to anyone that had previously known her, her entire body just emitted sadness; it bothered Draco immensely.

He was about to ask her what was wrong when she took a large drink from her mug, set it down and got up to leave.

"As lovely as this was, I must be leaving Malfoy"

Before Draco could get a word in edgewise, Hermione had her coat on and walking out the door.

"What just happened?" thought Draco as he watched her walk down the street.

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><p>Hermione walked to the end of the street where her car was parked, it had been her father's car but seeing as he would no longer be able to use it, she took possession of it just like she had their two homes.<p>

She climbed into it, plugged in her iPod and pushed play as she left for home. About halfway there, "Anthem of the Angels" by Breaking Benjamin came on and Hermione began to cry, still mourning the loss of her parents.

When she arrived home, she took a long shower, changed into her pajamas even though it was still midafternoon, and fell into a heavy sleep.

The next morning when she woke up, Hermione made a sudden decision; she was going to Australia.

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><p><strong>how was it? should I continue it or just delete it right now? review! :D<strong>


	2. Golden Girl Missing

**I just realized I didn't put a disclaimer in the first chapter, but you all are smart, you should know that I am not the brilliant JK Rowling and therefore do not own Harry Potter. Anywho, I'm glad you all are liking my new story. I love getting alerts saying that you all are adding it to your favorites already :) Without further ado, here's chapter two (ha that rhymed xD)**

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><p>Roughly one week later, Hermione arrived at her home in Mermaid Beach, Queensland. She got out of her rental car, got her luggage out of the trunk and walked inside. As she walked into the master bedroom she began to tear up again as memories of her parents began to flood into her mind again.<p>

"No" she thought as she willed herself to keep her tears in "I have to stop crying." She sighed and began to unpack her clothes and other possessions.

She hadn't told anyone she was leaving England, not even Harry or Ron; they would figure it out eventually but knowing them (well Ron at least); it would take them a while. She knew they probably wouldn't agree with the decisions she made so she decided not to tell them.

She'd rented out the home her parents had left her in England since she couldn't bring herself to sell it, packed all of her personal possessions and had everything shipped to her Australian home. It will be as if she simply disappeared; after she met with the new tenants she altered their memories a bit so they would think that they'd met with her realtor instead of her and erased the memories of her mentioning to them that she would be going to Australia.

Once she was settled in, she decided she needed some sort of distraction so she changed into her red Burberry Brit swimsuit, some white Steve Madden sandals, grabbed a towel, her YSL sunglasses and went for a dip in her pool.

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><p><em><strong>*Four months later*<strong>_

Draco got settled in his vacation villa in Mermaid Beach, Queensland. Things had gotten quite hectic at Malfoy industries with all the business transactions going on, it nearly drove Draco insane. Once everything was settled, Draco decided it was time for a much needed vacation so he informed his assistant that he would be taking time off and left for Australia the next day.

As if his mind hadn't been preoccupied enough with business matters, he could not for the life of him stop thinking about Hermione Granger. It had been a little over four months since their little encounter at the café in London, and she still found a way to sneak into his thoughts throughout the day, every day.

He wondered what had happened to the Gryffindor Princess; a month after he'd last seen her on the front page of the Daily Prophet was the headline "_**Gryffindor Golden Girl missing?"**_ It went on to read:

_**Where on earth is Hermione Granger? Yesterday the Ministry of Magic put out a bulletin stating that Miss Hermione Jean Granger, Gryffindor's Golden Girl and one third of the Golden Trio, had been reported missing by Harry James Potter, one of her best friends and savior of the Wizarding World.**_

_**When contacted for comments, Harry Potter politely recalled what had happened to one of our many journalists. Apparently Mr. Potter went to visit his friend at her deceased parents' home after not hearing from her for in over a month.**_

"Deceased Parents?" thought Draco, he hadn't known that her parents' had died, it was then that something clicked; that was probably why she had looked so sad at the café last month, she was probably still not over her parents' death.

_**When Mr. Potter arrived, he was surprised to find that not only was she not there, but that the house was being occupied by a muggle family. He later found out that the family was renting Miss Granger's home. He tried to find out any information that could tell him where she was and why she'd left without notice but he found nothing. The muggle family had apparently only ever met with a realtor to discuss renting the property and never actually met Miss Granger. When he tried to contact said realtor, he only replied that under his company's customer confidentially agreements, he was not at liberty to disclose any information about his clients.**_

_**Mr. Potter asked all of Miss Granger's friends if she'd ever mentioned to them or even hinted at leaving on vacation but they all answered the same: No.**_

_**So where could the war heroine be? Is she simply sipping a drink on a beautiful sunny beach somewhere far away or did she meet with an unfortunate fate? The Ministry urges anyone who might have information on Miss Granger to please either contact them or Mr. Potter immediately.**_

It was then that Hermione began to occupy Draco's thoughts even more, he constantly wondered where she was and why she'd left, but then again so did most of wizarding London.

He was brought back to the present when he heard the POP of apparition, standing in front of him was a small house elf.

"Welcomes back, Master Malfoy." Squeaked the small elf "What cans Missy do for yous?"

Draco smiled down at the little elf, she had always been his favorite; "Thank you Missy, could you please take my luggage up to the master bedroom and run a bath? I feel like going out a bit before the jet lag sets in."

"Yes Master" replied Missy before taking Draco's luggage and popping it into his bedroom before heading to his ensuite bathroom to run the bath.

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><p>After her now usual routine of yoga and Pilates followed by about an hour of swimming and sunbathing, Hermione headed back inside her home to take a shower so she could go grocery shopping as she had just finished everything in her kitchen that morning at breakfast.<p>

When she got out of the shower she put on her green Diane Von Furstenberg sporty kleio dress, nude Valentino rockstud gladiator sandals, suede tie floppy hat and YSL tortoise shell sunglasses. Before heading out she grabbed her phone, Miu Miu wallet, pink lip gloss, wand (which used to belong to Bellatrix Lestrange) and stuffed it all into her Michael Kors Turquoise Raffia tote. She walked out to her car, left her home and headed for Gold Coast growers market.

Draco left his villa about half an hour later and he headed toward Marina Quays Market Village to distract himself and hopefully get Hermione off his mind, if only for a few hours.

After getting enough groceries for at least the next 2-3 weeks, Hermione loaded up her car and was about to head back home but decided to distract herself a bit more so she headed toward Marina Quays Market Village. Before leaving her car, she placed a cooling charm on her groceries so they wouldn't spoil in the heat.

Hermione walked around the many shops and cafés before she found her favorite store, shop 56, rare book store. She browsed around for a bit as she always did and ended up buying a book on serial killers, not exactly what you would imagine the golden girl to be reading but she was fascinated by people such as Ted Bundy and Zodiac.

She walked around a bit more and bought a few little things here and there, she spent at least a good two hours before she decided to head back home. But before she left, she decided to get herself a little treat so she headed into Cupcake Passion.

Draco was walking around the market village, enjoying the sights, sounds and smells surrounding him when all of a sudden he froze in place. Not even ten feet away from him, HERMIONE GRANGER was walking out of Cupcake Passion with multiple bags in her left hand as she enjoyed a chocolate cupcake that she held in her right hand.

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><p><strong>Good? no? As I did with the Voice, I will be creating the outfits on Polyvore so you can all see them, I'm not sure if I will end up describing hermione's home but even if I don't I'll probably be adding pictures of what it looks like in my mind to my photobucket account.<strong>


	3. Author's Note

Okay so I hate to say this but I'm not sure about continuing this story. I've had really bad writer's block and I'm just not sure how to keep it going. It seemed like a good idea when I came up with it but not so much now. I might change my mind if I come up with a chapter I'm happy with. I'll give it another week or so but if I can't think of anything then I'll probably just delete this story. Sorry :/


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